Trussville budget tight, layoffs not likely

Trussville officials say they should be able to
de­liver a balanced budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year with­out any
city layoffs.

"That's the very last place we want to go," Mayor Gene Melton said. "And our bud­get projects look like we'll be able to do that."

Trussville is working through the latest draft of the budget and
calibrating spending with revenue pro­jections. Melton said the first
draft came in with a deficit of $864,000. That fig­u re is now down to
$350,000 and shrinking, of­ficials said. The problem is sales tax
revenue. For example, Trussville's monthly sales tax receipts have been
less than last year's for every month of the fiscal year ex­cept
November, March and July. Receipts are about $428,000 behind the pace of
last year's receipts, which totaled $11.7 million.

Melton said the sales tax receipts show city revenue
in a slow decline, which means the city will continue to tighten its
budget predic­tions. But declining revenue is not new to Trussville,
Melton said.

"It's something that ev­erybody's up against," he said.

Council President Wayne Taylor said Trussville at least has been able to rely
on reserve funds for the past two budget years to fill some of the
gaps. However, officials have said repeat­edly that the city cannot
continue to borrow from the reserve without a risk of depleting it.